One-man gasoline safety rail car



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 P. J. MITTEN .ONE-MAN GASOLINE SAFETY RAIL CAR Filed Jan. 1a, 1 3

Nov. 10, 1925- INVENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

P. J. MITTEN MAN GASOLINE SAFETY RAIL CAR ONE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 18, 1923 INVENTOR:

P. J. MITTEN H ONE-MAN GASOLINE SAFETY RAIL CAR Filed Jan, 18, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEYS;

Patented Nov. 10,1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT PHILIP LI. MITTENQQF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO MITTEN-- OFFICE.

TRAYL OR INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

, ONE-MAN GASOLINE S-AFETYRAIL on,

Application filed: January 18, 1923. Serial No. 613,393.

J Mrr'rnis,

- conditions, the cost of maintenance of power and yet not enough to plant, poles, overhead trolley wires and their adjuncts and their extensions through sparsely populated territory, which has not been built up according to expectations, cannot be operated except at a loss, and arc-I at the present time being discontinued or going into bankruptc notwithstanding the power plant and rails or trackway are in' good condition. There is under existing conditions a demand for a limited or restricted amount of transportation service warrant the maintenance and upkeep of the power plant, wire and poles aforesaid.

The object of my present invention is to provide a novel railway car construction, wherein each car is a novel construction of a one-man car and equipped with its own internal combustion engine, which is located in the front of the car below the floor thereof, and in such a position that. the single operator is brought as near to the front of the car as possible, so that he stands or sits directly over the engine below the car floor so as to provide a maximum seating capacity, said engine being preferably of the horizontal type or having horizontally disposed cylinders cooled by a horizontally p0" sitioned' cooling coil in contradistinction to the vertical front radiator commonly employed, said cooling coil being also located below said car floor. An upright engine 7 may also be'used at either end of the car be located and the engine irrespective of its type can at the front, rear or center of the car or the control means at both ends. By the employment of a horizontal gas engine having its cylinders disposed horizontally, I am enabled to osition the engine shaft at the desired point below the car floor, so that a direct connection can be made to the propellor shaft and its adjuncts, from which power is transmitted simultaneously to both the car axles. I have found it desirable or essential from an engineering longitudinal median line or any other line of the car, with or ,without differentials, which permit the-car wheels to follow the I curvatures of the track. A transmission and gear shift is employed under the control of the motorman, having the- "necessary change of speeds forward and reverse; it

being further understood that power is taken in any suitable manner from thepro- 'pellor' shaft to both the front and rear nating the use axles, so that a direct drive or traction to the desired extent is simultaneously exerted upon both the front and rear wheels.

My invention comprehends a novel mo- I tor vehicle using standard automobile parts with flanged wheels on the" axles thus elimiof trolley car, truck springs etc., making a drive and giving more comfortable riding qualities. This'combination can be run and maintained for a lower cost the expense of a centrally located electric power plant alone, and therefore a'company, which is insolvent, using. electrically driven trolleys, can sell their electric equipment and cars, and withtthe money so" obtained buy a sufiicient number of my gas engine driven vehicles and lace the system on an im: mediately profitable basis.

-My invention further comprehends a novel one-man street railway car of the character described having the driving mechanism located below the floor level of thecar. I s.

.My invention further consists of other novel features of advantage and construction, all as will be hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the claims.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have shown in the accompanying more flexible drawings'forms thereof which are at pres-' 'since they will give in organized and that my invention is not limper. mile than truck wheels,

rail 'car, embodying my invention,

\ flanged stood that all four wheels act as driving the chassis.

ited to the precise arrangement and organi- "zation of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Figure 1 represents, one-man gasoline safety rail car, ing my invention.

Figure 2 represents a section on line 22 of Figure 1. I

Figure 3 represents a sectional plan view of another embodiment of my invention.

Figure 4 represents atop plan vlew of in side elevation, a

embody- Figure 5 represents a section on line 5-5 of Figure 4:.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings,

1 designates a one-man gasoline safety which is provided with a car bod 2 and a chassis The chassis 3 is preferably made up of structural metal beams and, as illustrated, an internal combustion engine 4 is carried by the" supporting brackets 5 secured to the chassis. This internal combustion engine may be located at any desired point in the length of the chassis but, .as illustrated in Figures 4: and 5, it is located at the forward end of the vehicle so that it will be carried below the floor line 6 of such vehicle. The cylinders of the engine are preferably disposed laterally instead of vertically. The. engine is provided with a cooling system which includes a radiator 7 which is preferably laterally-instead of verticallvdisposed and is located below the floor line of the vehicle. The engine shaft 8 is provided with a fiy wheel 9, and is connected with a connecting rod 10 which extends to the transmission gear box 11, and is intergeared in any desired manner with the forward driving shaft 12 and the rear driving shaft 13. The gear box is suspendedfrom the channel frame of the chassis by means of the brackets 14. The shaft 12 is intergeared with the differential l5 operativcly connect ed. with the front axle 16 which carries the front flanged wheels 17 in order that such wheels may run on'the track 18. The rear shaft-13 is connected with the rear differ ential 19 which is operatively connected with the rear axle 20which. carries the rear driving wheels 21, it being underwheels. The front housing 22 carries the front springs 23 connected with the brackets 24 secured to the frame of, the chassis.

In a similar manner the rear housing 25 15 secured to the rear springs 26 which are connected with thebrackets 27 secured to the chassis frame.

vIt'will thus be understood that all of the drivingunechanism, including the internal crimbristioncngrne and its cooling means is llocated beneath-the floor line 6, so that the be readily accessible entire space above the floor line'is available for transportation purposes.

In the embodiments seen in Figures 1, 2, 4i and 6, the car is illustrated as being of the one-man type, the operator being. at the forward end of the car, and in rear of such operator, a vestibule proximity to its forward end, the door open ings 29 being controlled by the foldable doors 30 which fold into the vestibule. The vestibule is provided with a depressed portion 31 extending below the floor lineso that the'step portion 32, see Figure 1, will for the passengers.

In this embodiment of my invention, the seating arrangement is shown at 33, from which it will be understood that a maximum carrying capacity is provided. The arrangement issuch that a seating capacity is provided for twenty-one people.

In the embodiment seen in Figure 3, the construction and arrangement of the driving mechanism is the same as that already described, but I have shown the opposite ends of thecar as adapted to receive the station for the one man operator, and a fold-- able seat 33 is provided, which, together with the side seats 34, will adapt the car to seat twenty-six passengers. In this arrangementinstead of having two doors 'at the same end of the car, one door arrangement 35 similar to that already described in connection with Figure 2 is at the righthand forward end of the car, and when the car is to travel in an opposite direction, the entrance .36 is employed, at which time the one man operator of the car is stationed at such end of the car. In this manner, I provide for the car being operated by the operator in either direction without rendering it necessary to turn the car around in order to drive it in the opposite direction. In this case the window at the front of the car and the arrangement of the body at each end will be the same, whilein the embodiment seen in. Figure 2, the front end of the car will be adapted for the use of the one man operator, and the rear end of the car can have any conventional form of construction.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that in accordance with my present invention, a railway car which dispenses with steering mechanism can be operated on 28 is provided in close.

llll

tracks at a minimum'cost of operating eX- struct and operate the driving mechanism,

since an internal combustion engine is employed, and standard automobile parts may be used for the driving mechanism and its adjuncts. By disposing the driving mechcontrolling the car doors "l have provided driven car having its motive power and floor as togive accommodate maximum seating orcarrying capacity of the car body is obtained without any interference with the operator in carrying out his duties of operating the car from either end,

by the controlling means 37 located in the vestibule 28.;

ism or power transmission devices positioned below the car floor is differentiated from a four wheel truck or automobile device,.for the reason that the axles are each provided with a flanged solid car edly secured thereto whichvtrav-els on rails and both sets of axles or wheels entirely dispense with and are entirely disassociated from any steering mechanism,

knuckles, elbow leversor transverse rods of the character employed in trucks or other selfpro pelled vehicles of the conventional character, since the flanged car wheel's obviously follow the curvatures ofgthe railswithout requiring attention onthe part of the motormanor operator. ploy a horizontally disposed gasoline motor. or one having its cylinders extending horizontally together with a horizontally disposed cooling. system in order that the source of power and all the transmissionor driving mechanism may be entirely below the floor line, so as to bring the motorman as far forward as possible to provide a maximum seating capacity, it will be evident that a vertical engine, if properly designed and positioned, might be ator or cooling system may be arranged differently from the position seen provided it is carried sufficiently forward or is-disposed as to be out of the way of the motorman and occupants or and reverse gear shifts or controls located. in the car vestibule, universal joints, engine or door actuating mechanism,. as standard units of any desired design may be employed, provided that the drive is connected to all the axles and the outer end of each axle has fixedly secured thereto 'a flanged drive. wheel adapted to follow thetreads of the rails and that all ofsaid axles and wheels are disassociated with any steering mechanism.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that a one-man safety gasoline driving mechanism so disposed'below' the uninterrupted floor space to the maximum number of passengers possible in the limited floor space present in this type of car.

ltlwill now be apparent that I have devised a novel anduseful one-man gasoline safety rail car, which embodies the features and collecting fares- -.I claim as new and wheel fix- While ll. preferably em and drive means independently employed and the radipassengers of the car. .I have deemed it unnecessary to describe in detail the construction of thedifferentials, transmission, forward of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while I have,

in the present instance, shown" and described a preferred embodiment thereof which will give in prac ticesatisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that such embodiment is sus- V ceptibleof'modification in various particu- My novel constructionof driv ng mechanlars without departing from the spirit or its advantages.

' Having thus described my invention, what desirev to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A railway car comprising a body frame, a body, a, motor supported by said frame beneath the forward end of said body, front and rear axles including wheels yieldably supporting the body frame,- a transmission supported by said frame intermediate of said axles,- means opera'tively connecting said motor with said transmission, and drive means independently connecting said transmission with each axle. l 2. A railway car comprising a body frame, a body, a motor supported by said frame beneath the forward end of said body, front and rear axles including supporting the body frame, a transmission supported by said frame intermediate of said axles, flexible -means .operatively connectingsaid motor with said transmission, connecting said transmission with each axle. 3. A railway car comprising a body frame, a body, a motor supported by said frame beneath the forward end of said body, front and rear axles including wheels yieldably supporting the body frame, a transmission supported: by said frame intermediate of said axles, means operatively connecting said motor with said transmission, and flexible drive means independently connecting said wheels yieldably a body, a motor supported by said frame be Iieath the forward end of said body, front and rear axles including wheels yieldably supporting the body frame, supported by said frame intermediate of said axles, means operatively connecting said motor ,with said transmission, and means connecting'said transmission with each axle.

5. A railway car comprising a body frame, a body, a motor supported by said frame beneath the forward end of said body, front and rear axles including wheels yieldably supporting the body frame, a transmission supported by said frame intermediate of said axles, a propeller shaft including complemental universal joints connecting said motor with said transmission and drive means independently connecting said transmission with each axle.

A railway car comprising a bodya transmission meeting" said motor-With said oransnriiss on.

ineigeee drive transmission with the whereby propnlswn of at takes place, should one of said cease to function.

means positively Connecting said front and rear axles least one axle 10 drive means PHILIP J MITTEN. 

